Friday

Fayetteville and Cumberland County expect to start ordering mandatory evacuations of dozens of flood-prone areas on Saturday as Tropical Storm Florence slowly advances across the state.

Flooding likely will be more severe than was seen in Hurricane Matthew two years ago, with the Cape Fear River cresting at 62 feet — 4 feet higher than it did in Matthew — Fayetteville Fire Chief Ben Major said during an emergency meeting of the Fayetteville City Council on Friday evening.

A briefing from the National Weather Service on Friday night said major flooding is expected on the Cape Fear River and the Lumber River.

Although the steady winds were less than forecast for Friday, gusts reached as high as 64 mph in Fayetteville, according to comments at the City Council meeting. As of Friday evening, the National Weather Service reported about 1.36 inches of rain had fallen here since the storm arrived Thursday. But the rain is to continue into Monday, and overall 10 to more than 20 inches is expected.

Steady winds were expected to remain above 30 mph Saturday, with gusts as high as 48 mph.

Florence was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm on Friday afternoon after its winds battered coastal areas and downed trees and damaged buildings in Fayetteville and Cumberland County. The roof was ripped off an Alcoholic Beverage Commission store on Owen Drive.

Falling trees took out power lines and blocked roads. Emergency crews responded to fires reported on power lines.

As of 5:35 p.m., more than 15,300 homes and businesses served by the Fayetteville Public Works Commission were without power. The South River Electric Membership Corp. reported 11,760 without electricity, and Lumbee River EMC reported 360.

Thousands of residents in dozens of neighborhoods within a mile of the Cape Fear River and the creeks and streams that feed it could be told to evacuate, Fayetteville City Manager Doug Hewett said.

People who refuse to leave won’t be forced out, he said. But they will be told that when conditions become too dangerous, they will not be rescued.

Fayetteville and Spring Lake have joined Cumberland County and Hope Mills in instituting overnight curfews.

The curfews generally apply from sunset to sunrise (although Spring Lake’s is from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.).

Officials said the curfews are aimed largely at people who may go out to look at damage, to dissuade looters. Fayetteville Police Chief Gina Hawkins said drivers at night also will have a hard time seeing and avoiding flood water on the roads.

As of Friday evening, 587 people were in the seven emergency shelters in Cumberland County. Although the shelters technically have a maximum capacity of 1,225, they will take additional people and arrange to move them when conditions become safer, county spokeswoman Sally Shutt said.

Other developments on Friday:

• Robeson County at 7 p.m. suspended emergency services (including sheriff and emergency medical services) due to the dangerous weather.

• The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office charged two men with looting a Family Dollar store. The office said they stole beer, dishwasher soap pods and snack chips.

• The Federal Emergency Management Agency stopped accepting truckloads of supplies at its Fort Bragg base of operations until the weather eases. So far, the base has received 500 truckloads.

• The governor and North Carolina’s federal lawmakers asked President Donald Trump to issue an “an expedited major disaster declaration” for the state. If the declaration is granted, federal money and assistance would be made available for individuals and for public infrastructure to help communities recover from the storm.

• The president is preparing to travel to areas affected by Florence next week, the Associated Press reported. The trip will take place “once it is determined his travel will not disrupt any rescue or recovery efforts,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said.

With contributions from the staff of The Fayetteville Observer.

Staff writer Paul Woolverton can be reached at pwoolverton@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3512.

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